Redhead
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: During her time with the CBI, Teresa Lisbon had seen and heard a lot of unexpected things. None of them had been as shocking as this.
1. Chapter 1

**So I've had this in my head for a couple of months now, it started when Amber and I were tossing out theories about The Mentalist. Now, this isn't really what I think is going on. But it sounded fun to write, so I'm going with it. This will of course be continued.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything. I'm doing this for fun.**

Sometimes, things happened that Teresa Lisbon did not expect. Like when the little origami frog that Jane had made for her years back as an apology jumped. Or when that jump suddenly made her less angry at him.

Sometimes, things happened that Teresa Lisbon _really_ didn't expect.

Like when a bullet had mysteriously appeared to fell the man who had a gun pointed at her, leaving Jane holding a smoking weapon.

Or when the prints on that gun that killed the pedophile came back to be hers.

She certainly didn't expect to find Bosco and his team lying in a blood soaked room. She was surprised when the new boss said that she would be blamed for anything that Jane did. Krystina Frye being found believing she was dead was a surprise. As was the discovery that Bertram was not the man they were looking for, but O'Laughlin. Learning that Jane had shot a man in the middle of a mall was unexpected, as was his not guilty verdict.

She certainly was astonished when Jane had gotten into the car with her to reveal that he'd shot the wrong man.

Jane's failure to recognize her following his near death in the pond was not something she'd anticipated. Neither was Agent Darcy's accusation that Jane himself was Red John. She'd been jaw - dropped in finding out that her brother, Tommy, was a bounty hunter. Seeing her ex fiancé, out of the blue and after so many years, had surprised her. She'd been angry and hurt alongside her shock to discover that Jane had faked his CBI breakdown with Wainwright. She felt stunned for reasons other than the gunfire when Jane had blurted out 'love you' before proceeding with the plan to convince a serial killer that he had turned and cut all ties with his former life, both pre and post Angela and Charlotte. And her shock and confusion was obvious on her face when Lorelei revealed that she and Jane had slept together.

None of that was even close to the shock Lisbon felt when Agent Grace Van Pelt approached her nervously toward the end of a fairly uneventful day, asked to speak with her privately, and, when the two of them were in the senior agent's office with the door locked tight, the redhead looked down at her hands, remained quiet for a long moment, and then said, in a shaky voice barely above a whisper. "I'm working for Red John."


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter! Sorry it took me a few days to update, I was busy working, studying, and doing research on Lisbon, Van Pelt, and Red John on websites to make sure I use as much canon stuff as possible in later chapters.**

**And I still don't own anything.**

Lisbon wondered if she'd heard Van Pelt properly. Just because she couldn't think of any phrase that sounded like "I'm working for Red John" didn't mean that one didn't exist. She looked curiously at her agent and only managed to stammer "I-I'm sorry?"

Van Pelt swallowed, wringing her hands. When she looked back up at Lisbon, her eyes looked damp, like she was trying to hold back tears. When she spoke again, the first syllable caught in her throat. "I'm working for Red John."

Lisbon turned her head slightly to the side. "No, you're not."

Van Pelt looked confused. "Yes. I am."

"No, you're not," Lisbon said. "You're…you're not…working for Red John." She turned her head the other way. "You can't be." She stood up and shoved her hands in her pockets, looking toward her window, glad that she'd shut the blinds earlier. "You can't be. _Since when?_"

Grace shifted her weight, not seeming surprised at her boss's sudden shift from denial to demanding. "Years. Years. Longer than I've been working for you. I was assigned to you as part of his surveillance of Jane."

"Grace…" Lisbon's mouth was hanging open slightly, staring at the agent that had gained so much of her respect and affection over the years, knowing she should be looking at her totally differently now but somehow unable to allow herself to do so. This was _Grace Van Pelt._ Young. Somewhat naïve. Such a perfect target for Red John's brainwashing, but at the same time one of the last people Lisbon would have expected to be sitting here and making that confession.

Lisbon sighed. "Grace," she said again, with more strength in her tone. "You'd better not be screwing with me. Because that is a sick, and twisted, and…and I shouldn't have to tell you that it's just not something you can come in here and joke about. If Jane didn't have the connection with Red John that he does, I'd think he'd put you up to…" she trailed off, partly because she knew that this was not a subject Van Pelt would joke about, and partly because of the tears that were welling up in Van Pelt's eyes. She sat back down. "You know I have to arrest you, Grace. I have to arrest you and turn you over to another team for interrogation, and I'll have to testify to what you've told me at your trial." She should have slammed Van Pelt's body against the wall and cuffed her by now, and every second that she didn't she felt like she was betraying Jane, but her affection for the vulnerable looking red head in front of her was keeping her tone gentle. "You're a cop…or whatever. You know that, Grace."

A tear slipped out of Van Pelt's eye. "You can't. He'll kill me."

"Red John won't get to you," Lisbon said. "I'll assure you of that."

"You can't assure me of it," Van Pelt said. "His friends are everywhere, he's gotten to people inside CBI before, I'm not the only one, and no, I can't tell you everyone because I don't know everyone. He never shares all of his friends with the others, just the ones that need to know." She paused for a breath. "I want out. I don't want to be in his sick network anymore. But everyone who falls out of favor dies, and I was too young and vulnerable and naïve when I got involved with him to know what it could turn into. I don't want to be a part of him anymore. But I can't get out by myself." She sniffed. "You always said that this office was a safe room, right?"

"You're an accomplice of a notorious serial killer responsible for dozens of deaths across the state, including that of several CBI agents!" Lisbon said, as loud as she dared. "You're a mole. You're…I have never been this angry, Grace. _Never_."

"Look, I said I'm done, okay?" Van Pelt said, lifting her head. "I'll tell you everything I know, I just want your protection. I don't want to die for trying to do the right thing."

Lisbon stared at the double agent for another long moment. She always knew, whenever the team was out in the field, that it was dangerous. She knew that when they were working on a plan of Jane's, things were even more dangerous. And time and time again Rigsby, Cho, and Van Pelt had followed her into that danger, risking their lives while she got herself more and more tangled up in Jane's quest for revenge. It was a lot different here, knowing who specifically was in danger, what the danger was, and what the consequences were. Van Pelt had gone along with everything Jane and Lisbon had asked over the years. But at the same time, if Van Pelt had been playing her all along, going into those Red John cases knowing that she'd be okay, then was Lisbon really returning a favor, or was it her giving loyalty credit where credit was not in fact due? It made sense in retrospect to have a Red John Friend be a part of Lisbon's team…they already had had FBI and CBI related moles, so of course it wasn't ridiculous for Red John to have one of his people right there under Jane's nose. But it wasn't an important date today; there were no Red John related cases being worked on, and therefore, to the best of her knowledge, there was no reason for Red John to have an intentional reveal of the team's mole today. Was Van Pelt genuine in her plea for help, or was this all part of Red John's game?

Everything seemed to always work according to Red John's plan. But Lisbon was having difficulty accepting Van Pelt's involvement with the man in the first place. Her years with Jane had made her a better judge of people than she had used to be, and it was that confidence and her weakness in trusting her team that made her believe Van Pelt when she said she wanted help. "Come to my place tonight. Come alone. I'll leave some files on your desk before leaving tonight so you'll have an excuse to drop by. You tell me everything you know and then we'll talk. Okay? And don't come into any unnecessary contact with people until then. Understood?"

Van Pelt nodded, wiping her eyes. "Yes, boss."

"Now you understand that this could get you a lighter sentence, but odds are you're going to go to jail. You know that, right?"

"If he doesn't kill me first," Van Pelt said, nodding.

Lisbon was about to joke _or Jane_ to try and lighten the mood, but she stopped short of that when she realized how true it would be. If…well, when, when Jane found out about this there was no telling what he'd do. He'd been less predictable since the Wainwright incident and Lisbon was only now feeling confidant in her ability to control him again. Van Pelt's place in Red John's circle, no matter how significant it may be, would shatter his trust of almost everyone around him. And Lisbon couldn't handle a truly broken down Jane on top of this bombshell Van Pelt had just dropped on her.

"I know I'm asking a lot."

Lisbon was jolted out of her thoughts to find a slightly more composed Grace Van Pelt looking at her. "Yes," Lisbon said. "You are. I'm going to be risking my career and my life for you."

"Not your life," Van Pelt said. "You're too valuable."

Lisbon looked startled. "What?"

"Look," Van Pelt said, "people will get suspicious. Can we talk about it tonight?" She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "I know I'm asking you to risk a lot. But I really feel like you're the only one who can help me."

Lisbon nodded. "And I will try to protect you. I will do so to the best of my ability. But you have to tell me everything you know."

"I will." Van Pelt nodded. "Everything, I promise. I just can't do this anymore."

"All right." Lisbon stood up. "You can go." Van Pelt nodded, standing up and wiping her hands on her sides. Lisbon offered up a lighthearted comment in an attempt to break the tension. "I expect a very good story later."

Van Pelt laughed nervously, and then nodded toward Lisbon. "Thank you, boss." She gave a brief smile and exited the room.

Lisbon dropped down into her chair and curled her hands into C shapes, placing them around her eyes and staring so hard at her desk she was surprised her line of site didn't drill a hole right through the wood.

**Lisbon's usual patterns for stuff she doesn't expect are denial, anger, and then she's back to acceptance and wanting to help – at least that's how she was with Rigsby and Van Pelt announcing their relationship. That's what I was going off of her for characterization here.**

**The next chapter will begin the details of Van Pelt's life as a Red John Friend. Hope you all are still enjoying it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**New chapter! I'm working a lot, but I promised two friends that I would get a new chapter in my Monday. This section is kind of long, so I'm splitting it up into two parts.**

**I still don't own anything. Except maybe bits and pieces of this 'theory'.**

Lisbon waited until a quarter after nine before she saw headlights coming down the road, and it was nearly fifteen minutes later that headlights parked in front of the house, turned off, and a car door opened to reveal Grace Van Pelt inside. She'd listened to Lisbon, she'd come alone, the misleading files in her hand. "Boss," she said, according to the plan, "you left these on my desk earlier."

"Thank you, Grace," Lisbon said. "I just heated up some soup, would you like to come in?"

"Well, I do have a lot to do tonight," she said, which threw Lisbon off. Hoping that Van Pelt was just adding to the act and not bailing, Lisbon offered again, and the redhead accepted. Once inside the house, Lisbon took the papers from Van Pelt and smiled. "I'm ready to listen."

"Okay," Van Pelt said, glancing at the window as if she was afraid a bullet would crash through it and settle between her eyes any moment. "Okay." She looked back at the window. "Can we go in another room?"

Lisbon was surprised when her instinct was to shift her hand to the pocket that her off duty weapon was in. Van Pelt saw her do it and her eyes clouded over. She didn't move to defend herself, leading Lisbon to believe that she wasn't suggesting they move else ware for malicious reasons. It would be easier for an accomplice to harm Lisbon in a room near the front of the house, anyway, and according to Van Pelt herself, Lisbon was 'too valuable' to be harmed. She was very interested in learning what that meant, and she had to make sure Van Pelt trusted her. "Sure," she said. "Let's go in here."

She led the double agent – and she hated thinking of her that way – into the kitchen, where the curtains were drawn, and they sat at the table. "Now Grace," she said. "You're as safe as you'll be able to be right here. It's time to talk."

The redhead nodded. "I…I was in a bad place after my sister's suicide."

Lisbon blinked. She wasn't expecting that. Things just kept getting more and more shocking. "You – you had a sister?"

She closed her eyes and dropped her head. "I did. Yes."

"That's not in your file."

"No, it's not," Van Pelt said. "Red John made sure of that. If that could be traced, then there might be a trail that would lead to him. Much like Jane's breakdown following his family's death isn't in his."

Lisbon blinked again. "You know about that?" Van Pelt gave a small chuckle that chilled the senior agent right to her bones. It wasn't meant to, she was sure; Van Pelt wasn't trying to intimidate her, but the little laugh almost seemed to say "you thought I wouldn't know about that?" Of course she would know about that. Red John would have known, and it would have made him so damn happy he'd share it with his disciples – it certainly wasn't information that could lead to his capture. "Does anyone else know?"

"Sure. Rebecca knew, Sheriff Hardy…"

"About your sister. Not Jane."

"Oh." Van Pelt shook her head. "Well, Rigsby knows. But I told it to prevent a woman from committing suicide herself. I told him that I made it up."

Lisbon cocked her head. "Jane had said you were hiding a tragedy."

"That was this," Van Pelt said. "When she died, I shut down for a while. I felt helpless and unneeded. My cousin Yolanda couldn't get in touch with her. At a football game my father was coaching a few months later – he'd made me come to get out and do something – and a guy approached me. He told me that he could help me."

"I'm sorry," Lisbon said, shaking her head slowly. "This man…what did this man look like?"

Van Pelt shook her head. "A few inches taller than me, black hair, clean shaven. He was probably about twenty five at the time. He told me he'd been watching me, which kinda scared me, but then he said he knew what…" she stopped and put a hand to her mouth, "he knew what it felt like to be helpless and powerless, and if I wanted, he could make me feel really important. At that point, I figured he just wanted me to sleep with him. But he kept finding me, and after a while it seemed like he was the only one that listened. He got me doing petty crimes, stealing from cash registers and the secret caches in the farmer's barns, and he introduced me to some of his friends. About six months after I met him I realized that he was part of something bigger."

"Red John's always been active in California," Lisbon said. "How did he find you in Iowa?"

"A lover that Red John had had," Van Pelt said. "her younger sister, who I guess he pursued after the lover died, she lived in my home town. I'm one of his only connections that he didn't meet through criminal activity."

"Wait," Lisbon said, "I thought you said that he had you working as a theif." She looked down at her notepad.

"That wasn't Red John," Van Pelt said. His name was Michael, and he was killed two years after I got in."

"For?"

"He got the lover's sister pregnant. Red John killed him and the sister."

Lisbon raised her eyebrows. Van Pelt shrugged. "He has issues."

"I'll say." Lisbon made a note of the date Van Pelt said that the murder occurred. The redhead's eyes clouded with worry. "I have to look into it, Grace." She looked down at her notes, and then back up again. "When did you first meet Red John?"

"Shortly before the murders. He told me that he knew I had an interest in law enforcement and he wanted me out in California becoming a police officer. He helped pay for my schooling and sent me out here. By then, of course, he was well known, and one night he brought me to a hotel room he'd rented in another name."

Van Pelt stopped once again, and Lisbon hated having to ask the question. "Did he have any sexual contact with you?"

She hesitated, and then shook her head. "No. But I almost wish that he had instead. He showed me books, books full of people he'd killed or harmed in some way. There were more than on the official victims list, some names I'd recognized vaguely as missing persons and others that were unsolved murders in Nevada and even up to Oregon and Washington. None were typical Red John murders, but they had some early indications of a showman. But he was learning then, trying out new methods of killing, deciding how much he wanted each victim to suffer. He explained to me why he chose cutting people open, and when he decided that he was ready to become well known."

"How long before 1998 did Red John kill those other victims?" Lisbon said when she felt the ability to speak return.

"Three years, as far as I know," she said. "I know of nothing before 1995, but going off the typical path of serial killers, I'm sure there was animal violence before that, even dating back to his childhood."

"He never told you anything about where he grew up?" Lisbon asked. Van Pelt shook her head. "What else did he tell you that night?"

"He had a suitcase with him. He opened it and showed me his knives. He had a gun, too, and enough material to make a bomb. I got scared then, and thought he was going to kill me. I drew my gun, and within a second he'd disarmed me and cuffed my hands behind my back. He pulled out a knife and cut behind my ear." Van Pelt pulled her hair to the side and turned her head, where Lisbon could see a scar following the curve of her ear. "He gathered the blood on his fingers, drew my shirt up, and created the Red John smiley face on my stomach."

Lisbon's mouth fell slightly open. "Oh, my God."

"He told me that he hadn't killed in four months and was preparing to kill again. He told me about Jane, and he showed me pictures he'd taken of his wife and daughter. Right before they died. And he told me that he was more powerful than I'd thought, and that he had a job for me."

"The CBI," Lisbon said quietly.

She nodded. "Of course I'd already known about Jane – he took a lot of pride in that, and when I first fell in with him it wasn't long before he'd killed Angela and Charlotte. I was young enough to still get through school without anyone being suspicious, and he'd had Rosalind Harker train me in reading people."

The name jolted Lisbon. "You knew Rosalind?"

Van Pelt nodded. "She'd known Red John for longer than she'd claimed. But no one would doubt the story of a confused, innocent looking blind woman. She's shrewd, kind, but shrewd, and she taught me to sense when someone was lying, how to pay attention to the sound of one's voice, and how to tune in to one of your senses. She's hardly a naïve lover who got tangled up with the wrong man."

"Sounds like it," Lisbon said. "So…"

"So he told me that Jane was working at the CBI, and of course, that, I knew. He said that there was a spot opening on the team he worked with, and he needed an inside man. Or in my case, he said an 'inside fire monkey.'"

Lisbon cocked her head. "I'm sorry, fire monkey?"

"Fire for my hair," she said. "Monkey because he'd trained me, and because monkeys and volcanos, which are associated with fiery things, are in the story _Jumanji._ The movie version had a character named Hunter Van Pelt. He loves that book, it's a place he can go to live in his fascination with wild animals."

"Tiger, tiger," Lisbon whispered.

"Another outlet," she said. "With a deeper meaning, as well, of course." She shuddered again. "At that point, he un – cuffed me and told me I could wash the blood off of my stomach, but if I ever betrayed him, I wouldn't have enough blood left for him to smear on the wall. And he got me the job at the CBI. My job was to observe Jane and his relationships with everyone, and to alert Red John if he ever got too close."

"So you were obviously very trusted by him," Lisbon said.

"Not enough to see his face," she replied. "He wore a mask each time I saw him. That should have tipped me off, I suppose. But yes, he loved my hair and I think thought of me a little bit as a pet. I wasn't as trusted as some of his other friends, I suppose, the ones who had been with him a long time, but he felt he had brainwashed me enough to let me slide into the CBI and pretend to be naïve and quietly enthusiastic about justice. He had me do things like check luggage on our first case, stutter on occasion, and pretend to be enamored by things Jane did, when in all honesty, he, Rosalind, and others had taught me to do the exact same things."

Lisbon nodded slowly. She had long since stopped writing on her notepad. The things that Grace Van Pelt was telling her tonight were so far beyond all she'd ever thought that she suddenly found herself doubting everything more than she had before. But Grace was talking, she had to keep herself and the redhead calm and get the rest of the story.

"Do you think he ever started doubting your loyalty?" she asked her gently.

Van Pelt nodded. "I think he started a year before I figured that out. But he needed a way to shock me, to remind me that I was his, and a thing like that takes buildup."

"What did he do to reawaken your fear?"

Van Pelt let out a heavy sigh. "He sent Craig to me."

"Craig O'Laughlin'?"

Van Pelt nodded. "I knew nothing of his ties to Red John. I was completely genuine swearing that he wasn't involved. Not only because I loved him, but because I thought if he was working on the same side as I was, I would know about it. And the way it ended was orchestrated all according to Red John's plan. It was to show me that I couldn't relax and I couldn't let my guard down. He was still on my every move, and he was capable of completely fooling me. And I'm fairly certain that he decided to make his move on me when he found out I refused to wear the wire and spy on the team."

"You were already dating O'Laughlin then," Lisbon said.

"I know," Van Pelt said. "He was already suspicious of me, feeling I was too close to the team. I just didn't realize it then."

"So…" Lisbon said quietly, "what did you do that raised his suspicion?"

"I fell for Rigsby," she said. "And that was my own doing. Not his."


	4. Chapter 4

**New chapter time! This one gets into Red John recognizing and taking advantage of Jane and Lisbon being each other's weaknesses when it comes to how they go about their work and how they chase Red John.**

**And I still don't own anything.**

"How does you falling for Rigsby show Red John that you weren't totally on board with him?" Lisbon asked. "Wouldn't that take suspicion off of you, if anything?"

"Sure," Van Pelt said. "If it was part of the plan. That just told him that I was okay with doing something that wasn't okay – ed by him. And the personal life, and personal feelings…that can really motivate you. Like with why Red John won't kill you because you're too important to him continuing to taunt Jane."

"Yeah, you know, I've been curious about that," Lisbon said, tapping her fingers. "How exactly am I 'too valuable'?"

"Because Jane cares about you," Van Pelt said. "About as much as he's capable of caring for anyone anymore. And when Red John sees someone that Jane will put before his revenge, of course he's going to use that to his advantage."

"When has he done that?" Lisbon said. "I mean sure, he shot Hardy, but that was _one_ lead. And he was probably going to kill us all and try and get away anyway."

"Well…"

"I'm just saying," Lisbon interrupted, "that an example would be great."

"Okay…" Van Pelt thought, tapping her fingers on the table.

"Now would be a really good time," Lisbon prompted.

The redhead nodded. "Here's an example. Back…a few years ago, when you were knocked out in that locker room and Jane found you with the bomb vest on? Do you remember that?"

Lisbon nodded, wondering why she even had to ask. "Of course."

"Well, in your statement about that incident, you said that when the phone went off, Jane was attempting to find out how to remove the vest. Later on, when you were in the room with the guy behind it, you ordered Jane to leave. You didn't do that when the phone call initially came in. And throughout the entire thing, Jane didn't leave, of his own accord or of your demands."

"So?" Lisbon shrugged. "I was scared, and he knew that. Not to mention, he _always _acts out whenever I order him to do anything."

"But think of the consequences," Van Pelt urged her. "What if that phone call had triggered the bomb? You would have blown up, so would he. And his quest to defeat Red John would have been over. It's one thing to kill one of Red John's friends…though that did open his eyes a bit, too. It's another thing entirely to risk dying himself for any reason other than to have his revenge. It would have been very easy for Jane to back away, go behind the lockers, just until you answered the phone. If you'd blown up, he'd still be around to hunt Red John. If you hadn't, he could have come back to your side. But he didn't leave it. Not for a minute."

"We'll never know," Lisbon whispered, looking down at the table. Van Pelt cocked her head. "That's what he said to me," she said. "When I acknowledged that the phone call could have set off the device."

Van Pelt nodded. "If it had, then he'd be gone. No one else fights Red John with the passion that he does. No one else has the drive to catch him. Jane knows that. Red John isn't invincible, but if Jane dies he becomes a lot more so. Jane can't count on other people to catch him, and he was willing to risk that so you wouldn't be alone."

Lisbon wasn't sure what to think about that, so she cleared her throat. "And how does that make me valuable with Red John? From what Jane's told me, Red John doesn't want him dead, because that'd be too easy. He wants him alive so he can toy with him."

"Which is why you're too valuable." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If you die, he has no one that he'd risk giving up his quest for. And he'd either do something that would get himself killed, or he'd catch Red John, since he had no feelings holding him back."

"Jane's always said he'd be willing to die to catch Red John," Lisbon said.

"Yes," Van Pelt said. "And Red John doesn't dispute that. But he's also not willing to let _you_ die, for a reason relating to the case or otherwise. He couldn't save Angela and Charlotte, and I'm not saying he loves you in the same way he loves them. But you're the most important person in his life that's still alive, the CBI team is all he has and you're the foundation of that. He can't lose someone again, and Red John believes that he'd rather die with you or for you than watch you die, let you die…" she shrugged, "whatever."

"I'm a cop," Lisbon said. "He knows that. Every cop has the possibility of dying in the line of duty."

Van Pelt shook her head in frustration. "This is different, can't you see? Red John has killed off CBI agents to make sure Jane stays on the case. He's put your life as his way of knowing if Jane was still seeking revenge or if he'd fallen far enough for Red John to take him in. If you die for any reason even remotely related to Red John, then once again he's lost someone he cares about and once again it's all his fault. It doesn't matter that you aren't Angela. What matters is he has no one else. So you fall into the role of Trump Card. He can use you and risk your life and do whatever he wants with you, and Jane will put his hunt aside. Temporarily, anyway. As long as you're alive, Red John has the advantage. That's why the only thing Lorelei would accept is your corpse. That's the only way they'd truly know that Jane had fallen far enough."

"So what?" Lisbon said, standing up. "So it's my fault that Jane's head gets played with like this? I shouldn't have befriended him? Maybe I shouldn't care about any of you, if that gets everyone in so damn much trouble. By that logic, I should arrest you right now and not listen to any more of your _story_."

"Boss…"

"_What_?"

"I'm trying to help here," Van Pelt said. "The more you know about where Red John's mind is, the more likely you guys are to catch him that won't get you or Jane killed."

"You're telling me that Jane and I would prefer it if the other one doesn't get killed?" Lisbon said, walking toward Van Pelt. "We're friends. It's not exactly rocket science."

"And yet you continually miss it," she said under her breath.

Lisbon slammed her hands down on the table in front of the redhead, who didn't flinch. "What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that my relationship with Rigsby, Cho's addiction to painkillers, how Red John sees you as the ace of the trump suit…" Van Pelt shrugged. "You miss it. You wait until it's thrown in your face and then you deny it. And then you face it when you're forced to. You're in so deep that all you can see is Jane and you'll help him at the expense of everything else. That relationship is exacerbating your own powers of observation, no matter how much Jane himself has worked with you on them. You'll see details of a case, but you miss things when they're closer to you."

"Excuse me?" Lisbon wanted to prove Van Pelt wrong, report her for insubordination, but suddenly she didn't feel like the boss anymore. She felt inadequate, intellectually inferior to the fiery redhead across from her. She was weakening because Van Pelt was right. She hated that. "Oh God," she said, sinking down into the chair nearest her. "Oh. My. God." She put her head in her hands, hoping that she'd feel less dizzy if she didn't look at anything for a few minutes. A million thoughts were swirling through her head, and it was overwhelming knowing that she was going to have to organize them. Red John, Jane, Van Pelt… "Cho is addicted to painkillers?"

Van Pelt blinked. "No. At least he's not anymore. It's not important. Not to this."

"How did you know that?"

Van Pelt sighed, closing her eyes and looking upset. "Red John knows _everything_. He's almost always watching."

"But that doesn't have anything to do with him!" Lisbon's voice was a little more shrill than she was used to. "Or Jane. Or me. Why does that matter? Why does he notice stuff like that?"

"Because it's something he can use," Van Pelt said. "Anything he can use against us, he can use against you, and if you're upset or unhappy, that affects Jane. He flat out told Hightower that. I'm sure his endgame is going to be something where he'll make you choose between killing him and you, and letting the both of you live. If he lets you both live, Red John wins. If both of you die, sure, he got Red John, but Jane will forever be responsible for yet another death of someone he cares about, and he'll never be able to avenge it."

Lisbon wasn't ready to think about that yet. Instead, she focused on a smaller part of Van Pelt's speech. "Hightower," Lisbon repeated. "Does Red John know where she is?"

Van Pelt shook her head. "Not that I know of. But he doesn't need to anymore, so it doesn't matter as much to him."

"So every move we make, he's watching us." Lisbon said. "And he's just waiting for information that would allow him to torture Jane. And he's going to use me because that will hurt Jane most." She sighed deeply. "Why couldn't he just be a serial killer?"

Van Pelt hesitated, then put her hand out on Lisbon's arm. "Don't beat yourself up, boss. Red John is an evil man, but an intelligent man. He's intuitive. He's a lot like Jane, in that way."

"Don't compare Jane to that bastard," Lisbon said coldly. Van Pelt simply raised an eyebrow. Lisbon dropped her head again. "This is just so much to get thrown at you at once," she said, raising her head to look at the redhead. "Grace, I've always thought of you as such a good person…"

Van Pelt's eyes welled up. "I _am_, boss. I was young and depressed and desperate to have some sort of control and worth. But I can't stay in this game anymore. You're not a bad boss for caring about Jane. You're not a bad boss for caring about us. This is just a really bad situation and you didn't know how deep it ran, how much Red John relies on your relationship with Jane in his games, and everything else." Van Pelt blinked rapidly. "But your drive to help Jane defeat the person that I've come to fear so much…" her voice was cracking now, and it made the rest of the anger that Lisbon felt at her melt away, "you _care _so much, and it just made me realize even more how _twisted _and _messed up_ I am." Van Pelt said. "I can explain to you so easily what Red John's ideas are and what his endgame is. It's so much harder to explain myself. I was stupid," she said, swallowing. "That's all I can say. And now I regret the past decade of my life, I hate so much of what I've done, and I'm so afraid that wanting to be a good person is going to get me killed. Boss, I know everything I've said has been hard to hear, but…will you help me?" She looked over at her. "That's all I need to know at this point. I've told you everything. I need to know if I'm definitely going to die or just probably. And as either answer isn't really going to make me feel any better, I don't think it's too much to ask for one of the two."

"What am I supposed to do, refuse?" Lisbon asked, getting a sense of déjà vu and not remembering from what. "Of course I'm going to help you, Grace. I just need a day or so to clear my head. I…I got a lot of information tonight. And I need to talk to Jane." As Lisbon finished her sentence and stood up, Van Pelt stiffened. "What?" Lisbon asked.

"Why do you _need_ to talk to Jane?" she asked. "He'll either freak out or come up with another plan that's just going to fail."

"Grace…"

Van Pelt shook her head. "Please. Whenever you and Jane team up, it become you two first, and then everyone else. I'm sorry if this sounds selfish, but I can't be second to the two of you this time. Not when it's Red John."

Lisbon looked over at the woman, feeling more like the leader again. She took a step toward the seated woman and put a hand on her shoulder. "Okay," she said. "I'll keep it between us."

Van Pelt looked up at her with red eyes. The she stood and put her arms around the senior agent. Lisbon instinctively stiffened, then relaxed and put her arms around Van Pelt. "Thank you," the redhead whispered.

Lisbon gave a small smile. "No problem."

**Next chapter will be up sometime between Saturday night and next Thursday-I've got a bit of traveling to do. And as you all probably suspect already, keeping this from Jane is not going to be 'no problem'. And I know people have different opinions on Jane and Lisbon's relationship, but I think it's safe to assume that no matter what Jane meant by "that thing he said" in The Crimson Hat, other events of that episode pretty much show that Red John considers that relationship important.**


	5. Chapter 5

**New chapter time! Can't promise when the next one will go up, but for now y'all will have this one. : )**

**And I still don't own anything.**

Lisbon felt relief when Jane was late to work the next day. They were working on a fairly straightforward case, but she hoped that the consultant's tardiness would encourage him to be more focused on the work and not studying Lisbon for current weaknesses that he could give her a hard time for. She didn't want him trying to get into her head today. It was too difficult to keep her guard up around him, too much effort, too trying, and her head was too full of other thoughts to want to have to attempt to stay one step ahead of him, an accomplishment that she hardly ever managed to do for any length of time.

Van Pelt was right on time, entering their desk area and sliding into her seat, looking tired and drawn. Lisbon had gotten about ninety minutes of sleep the previous night, and she bet Van Pelt had had a similar amount of rest. But she was here, sitting straight and throwing herself into researching the victim's previous criminal record like the hard working agent that Lisbon had always known her as. It was such a shame that she had fallen in with such a dark and twisted network of people. Had she stayed 'clean', she'd have been one of the finest agents that the CBI had ever had. Now, at best, she was destined to a prison sentence. At worst, her blood would be smeared on a wall in the shape of the tell – tale smiley face.

"Morning, boss," Cho said, nodding in her direction as he slid into his desk.

Lisbon nodded at him before heading into her office to answer the phone. It was the new boss requesting her notes from a meeting she'd attended the day before, shortly before Van Pelt's confession. No sooner had she hung up with him did her phone ring again, this time it was a man from the casino they'd visited yesterday, angry that they were holding two of his employees for obstruction of justice. "There is video footage of them moving the body and removing various items from the crime scene," she told the owner. "We have the right to…" she trailed off momentarily when she saw Jane come into view. He walked to Van Pelt's desk and she looked up at him. He said something to her, grinning, that made her smile. Lisbon wondered if she really did look nervous or if she was imagining it now that she knew everything. She assumed it was the latter since Jane did not appear concerned. "I have to go," she said to the still miffed casino owner, putting the phone down and making a note to call the judge.

It still shocked her that Jane of all people hadn't picked up on Van Pelt's deception. Red John – and Rosalind – were _good _if the CBI's best consultant hadn't noticed anything amiss about her. Sure he'd guessed correctly that she had tragedy in her past, but Lisbon knew that if he even suspected a Red John connection, he would have told her. He certainly wouldn't have kept something like _that_ from her, especially since Lisbon frequently went to talk to witnesses or suspects with the redhead. If everything Van Pelt said was true about him when it came to her, Jane would not let Lisbon go anywhere alone with Van Pelt, especially when their Red John senses were on high alert.

"Hey, Lisbon!" he said, pushing her door open and waving, grinning as he did so. "Sorry I'm late."

"Oh, you weren't here?" she said, feigning confusion. "Oh _that_'s right, no one has annoyed me yet today."

"What a shame," he said, shaking his head as if it really was a travesty. "I'm sure we can figure something out."

"Well, I look forward to that," she said, looking down at what she was writing. It took her a moment to remember why exactly she had to call the judge.

"So," he said, coming into her office and sitting down. "While I try to figure that out, uh…what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm late without an explanation," he said. "Well, I do have an explanation, I was stuck in traffic, but you didn't ask for one. You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" He grinned. "Huh? What is it?"

On the bright side, Lisbon thought, he appeared to think what she was hiding was something that would amuse him, embarrass her, or both. That would keep him from asking her questions she couldn't answer, at least for a while. "Nothing," she said. "We have an easy case, and I was on the phone all morning with a few people who wanted to take a little of the ease out of it. There was no pressing need for you to be here, and it's not like you're two hours late." She shrugged. "As much as you like finding out my little secrets, there aren't any this time."

"And yet you have a strong denial that there's not," Jane said. "And it's not built out of pressure or stress, like you said, we have an easy case. There is _something_ bothering you."

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "Though something is now annoying me, so success for you!" She clapped her hands together lightly twice, smiling and trying to keep the mood more playful. Let Jane convince himself she'd just gotten a little drunk and danced to the Spice Girls the night before and it was prolonging her good mood. It was certainly better than him pressing her about Red John. She wasn't sure she'd be able to remain strong and not tell him if he really pushed her – it was Red John, after all.

* * *

"Boss?"

Lisbon looked up from her desk. "Rigsby. What can I do for you?"

"Ah," Rigsby hesitated, putting his hands in his pockets. He looked behind him and then shut the door. "It's Grace," he said in a low voice. "She's been rather…on edge…today. Uh, jumpy."

Lisbon froze. Maybe it wasn't her imagination. But Jane hadn't noticed it. Maybe she and Rigsby had had a conversation that had tipped him off? She wasn't sure. She had no way of knowing. She needed to talk to Van Pelt. She needed to stop the internal panic. She cleared her throat. "I'll talk to her, see what's going on. Thank you, Rigsby."

"Ah, thank you, ma'am, boss." Rigsby nodded and left the office.

Lisbon got up and followed him to the door. "Van Pelt?" The redhead jumped slightly. "Can I see you for a moment?"

She held the door for the double agent and closed it behind her. "Are you okay today?" she said. "Do you need to take the day off?"

"I'm fine, boss," Van Pelt said. "I promise."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Rigsby just came in here concerned about you."

"Jane hasn't noticed," Van Pelt said. "Rigsby overreacts. He's more in tune with me than Jane is, he always has been. Jane always analyzes you when he comes in. As long as I'm not sweating or tapping my foot, he won't notice anything on a normal day. He's too busy trying to figure you out. Or figuring Cho out."

Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "Cho?"

Van Pelt shrugged. "Cho's kinda fun to try and figure out. You should try it sometime."

"Okay," Lisbon said, putting a hand on Van Pelt's arm. "You're going to tell Rigsby that you appreciate his concern, but…" she thought a moment. "Make something up."

"I am _so_ bad at figuring stuff like that out," Van Pelt said. "One time Jane told me to make up a story for why I had to leave a suspect's house, and all I could come up with was 'I have to go do something.'"

"You've been a Red John student for almost ten years and you can't make up a 'why I'm acting weird' excuse?"

Van Pelt smiled. "Well, we all have our weaknesses…" she trailed off. "Okay. I was almost hit by a car. And since O'Laughlin, cars have shaken me up more than they used to. That work?"

Lisbon nodded. "Okay." She smiled. "It's going to be okay, Grace."

Van Pelt nodded. "Thank you."

Lisbon watched her go and let out a deep sigh. So far Jane suspected something of her, and Rigsby was on alert for Van Pelt. And if she was honest with herself, Cho was probably confused at how one or both of them were acting too, he just didn't get overly concerned every time something wasn't exactly right. She leaned against the wall, her forehead against it. "Damn."

**Thanks for reading! : ) And to my anonymous reviewer on that last chapter, thank you so much!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So, so sorry it's been so long since there was an update! I'm leaving Saturday for vacation and I hope to have the fic done by then, but I can't make any promises. But here you go, the next chapter. I promise I will not let my Tetris/Mentalist crossover ideas interfere with actual non cracky stories. :D**

**And ****I still don't own anything.**

Lisbon called Van Pelt into her office at the end of the day. "Sit down, please," she said, and the redhead complied, folding her hands in her lap and letting out a somewhat shaky breath and clearing her throat. "I know," Lisbon said sympathetically, "the ball's rolling now. You're just going to have to try and keep it together, okay? Can you do that for me, Grace?"

Van Pelt nodded. "I've done it this far." She sighed again. "It's just…like you said. Everything is starting now."

Lisbon nodded. "I'll make this brief since you need to get home. From what I've looked into, we have a couple of options. We continue on like you haven't said anything to me, we use what you've told me to catch Red John and hope that he doesn't figure it out. I arrest you, we put you into protective custody, and you'll have a guard while we continue to look for him. I could probably try to get you into Witness Protection, get you out of here completely, but that would take some talking to the higher powers to make sure that you don't get charged.

Van Pelt furrowed her brow. "Not get charged? Boss, I'm prepared to get charged. I'm an accomplice of a serial killer. There are consequences to that. I don't want to get out of them just because I'm a cop."

Lisbon suddenly felt choked up. That was Van Pelt, wanting to be honorable as possible in her dishonorable past actions. "Grace," she managed, "I'm going to do everything I can to minimize the legal actions we have to take against you. You're a good, promising agent, and your information can really help us get Red John, it's so much more than we've ever gotten from anyone. I think that's worth a little forgiveness."

Van Pelt nodded. "Well, I appreciate that," she said, "but please know that if I have to serve jail time, I am well aware that I deserve to. I don't want to shirk anything. And I don't want you or your career to be jeopardized trying to help me."

"You've bent over backwards for me on multiple occasions," Lisbon said firmly. "It's time I do the same for you." She hesitated. "I'm…I'm aware that I've often shown more loyalty to Jane than to the three of you. That's not fair to any of you, I'm your boss and my job is to take care of you. Okay?"

Van Pelt smiled and stood to leave. Lisbon stood too, walking around the desk to get the door, and stiffened in surprise when Van Pelt approached her and gave her a hug. After a moment, she returned the hug, surprised to find Van Pelt shaking. "Hey," she said, taking a step back and discovering that the redhead was holding back tears. "Hey," she said again. "Suck it up, agent."

Van Pelt smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

When she had gone, Lisbon was called to the director's office for a meeting. She returned to find that her paperwork had not finished itself while she was gone, and she sat down to work on it. Glancing at the clock, she groaned. She wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

She was immersed in the paperwork when a voice startled her. "Hey."

She jumped, looking up to find Jane leaning in the door way, smiling. "Hey," she said. "You're here late."

"Well, I figured that you wouldn't want to talk when there were other people here," he said.

"Talk?" Lisbon frowned. "About what?"

"About whatever is bothering you about Red John."

Lisbon froze. "What? Nothing's bothering me about Red John…I mean, the guy is very hard to find, but nothing unusual – new. Nothing new."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "Are we really going to play this game?" he asked, entering the office and walking toward her. "Something is bothering you. The Red John files have been on your desk all day, and as soon as you noticed I was here you put that folder of paperwork over them. "Something happened. You know something. What is it?"

"You think you know everything," Lisbon said. "And you don't. And you don't have to."

"When its Red John I damn sure have to," Jane said, leaning on her desk. "Don't hide things from me. You will regret it."

"I'll regret it," Lisbon said. "Is that a threat?"

"It's a reminder," Jane said. "I get all Red John information. You know, Lisbon?" he said, "you were actually the one to convince Minelli all those years ago that I should _have_ all the Red John information, even the top secret stuff."

"Look, Jane," she said, standing up. "I'm the boss, I decide who knows what, and this is not something that concerns you." She put on her coat. "If this pans out, I'll let you know in a couple of days."

Jane moved over so she couldn't get by him. "No. You're going to tell me now."

Lisbon wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him because it was Red John and as far as she was concerned he deserved to know. She wanted to tell him because Van Pelt was right, she hated keeping things from him and she liked the feeling of knowing the two of them were on the same page, knowing and thinking the same things. It helped their minds synchronize when they needed to come up with a grand plan. Sure, he did most of the work, but she helped. And he couldn't do the work if she didn't tell him.

But she still didn't know how he'd react. And it terrified her. So she didn't tell him. "No."

As she moved by him she saw his eyes flash, his arm fly out and his hand clamp around her arm just below the elbow, the force causing her to spin around to face him. His grip hurt and his eyes flashed angrily. "Lisbon, you know that…"

She took a step back and with one motion freed her arm from his grip. "Dammit, Jane," she said. "You're such a goddammed hypocrite."

Jane looked as if such an accusation was balderdash.

"Yeah," Lisbon said. "You heard me. You go on and on about how we trust each other, about how you trust me and you want to make sure I trust you. And now you won't trust me. And no, I wasn't completely honest with you. There _is_ a potential Red John development. But it's not like you never lied to me, even after you swore up and down that you trusted me."

"That's different," Jane said. "Every time I lie to you about Red John, I'm trying to protect you."

"I'm trying to protect too, Jane," she said. "The development is sensitive. I can't tell you right now. But I will. I promise. You just have to trust me like you claim that you do." She swallowed. "Believe me, this is for a lot of people's own good."

Jane stared at her for a long moment, and then sighed. "You don't know what's for my own good."

"Yes I do," she said. "I know you better than anyone else, except for maybe you. I've put faith in you time and time again, Jane. And now I'm asking for it in return. Please."

Jane looked at her for a long time. Then he turned and left her office.

Lisbon let out a breath, walking back around her desk and packing up her things. She couldn't handle being here any longer. She couldn't handle lying to Jane. She couldn't handle lying to any of the team, and Van Pelt was the only one she was being truthful with at the moment. But Cho and Rigsby were used to learning things on a need to know basis. Jane operated under the "everything Lisbon knows is need to know" assumption. And Cho and Rigsby weren't as close to the Red John case as Jane was.

She walked past her team's desks and down to the elevator, pressing the button and waiting for the doors to slowly roll open. Upon the empty interior being revealed to her, Lisbon stepped inside. Before the doors closed, someone else entered the elevator with her. He stood next to her and faced the front. "I'm sorry."

She nodded. "I know."

* * *

Upon reaching her home, Lisbon yawned, taking two tries before she worked the key in the lock and gained access to her living room. It was late, and the events of the day, plus the stress that had been weighing on her since Van Pelt had made her confession, made her beyond exhausted, and while she was sure she wouldn't sleep much tonight, it would be nice to be able to close her eyes.

She dropped her phone on the table, her gun in the drawer, and threw on a large tee shirt, looking in the mirror at the bags under her eyes. Maybe she would actually sleep tonight.

But not before she checked to see if she locked her front door. She usually did, but for some reason she was paranoid tonight. She descended the stairs and tried the knob. It was locked. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the screen on her phone lighting up. She walked over to the table and picked up the device. It had just gone to voicemail. It was from Van Pelt. Lisbon sighed. She was tired, she'd just spoken to Van Pelt three hours ago, and she didn't feel like thinking any more about Red John tonight. She was about to flip the phone shut – there was no voicemail – when she saw something that made her blood run cold.

In the past five minutes, Van Pelt had called her seven times.


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes, yes, I am updating two days in a row! :D It's just been a really great day, which is nice since it began so awfully. But anyway, enough about me, I won't leave you guys hanging any longer, here is the next chapter! I still own diddly-squat!**

Lisbon's gun almost flew into her hand. She jumped into a pair of jeans and a jacket and she bolted to her car, throwing it in drive and speeding off, wheels screeching on the damp pavement, as she headed toward Van Pelt's place. It was a good fifteen minute drive from Lisbon's home, and with the rain that was starting to fall steadily, it would take her even longer to reach it. For a moment she wished Jane was there so he could drive fast. Or Van Pelt. Van Pelt would drive fast too. And considering Lisbon was now worried about the aforementioned agent, it would probably be better that Van Pelt be there than Jane.

Lisbon pressed the redial button again and held the phone to her ear. "Dammit, Grace. Dammit, pickup!" No answer. Lisbon didn't want to leave a voice mail, Van Pelt hadn't on her own phone so she probably didn't consider that communication secure enough. Lisbon's car hit a bump and she felt her mother's cross bang against her neck with the unexpected jolt. Lisbon swallowed hard and focused on the road, running prayers through in her mind.

Upon reaching Van Pelt's place, Lisbon threw the car in park and jumped out. She ran maybe three or four yards when she put on the brakes and stopped in shock.

Barely six feet in front of her was a man, easily over six feet tall, lying on the ground, motionless. Lisbon pulled out her flashlight. The man had at least four bullet holes in his head and stomach.

Lisbon knelt beside him and felt for a pulse, although she knew there'd be none. She pulled out her phone, automatically, to call the police, but she hedged as her finger hovered over the button. If she called the cops, she'd have to be here when they showed up. She had to find Van Pelt. This man would still be dead when she got back.

Lisbon kicked down the door to Van Pelt's apartment when no one answered the knock. She methodically moved around the apartment, shouting "clear" once before remembering that no one else was there with her. _I'm without backup,_ she thought. _This is Red John related and I'm without backup. Van Pelt could be in danger and I'm without backup. I'm not going to live through this._

Lisbon almost didn't care if she didn't. She'd been the one who said she'd bend over backwards to help Van Pelt. She'd broken multiple rules already. This was probably the most legal thing she'd done all day. As for safety, well, she'd thrown that to the wind when she didn't arrest the redhead the moment she'd made her confession.

The sound of her phone ringing again was almost enough for Lisbon to fire her gun, so on edge was she as she made her way around the house and determined that she was alone. Picking up the phone, she pressed it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Boss, thank God."

"What in the Hell happened?" Lisbon said, whispering because Van Pelt sounded as if she was. "Where are you?"

"Are you at my place?"

"Yes," Lisbon said. "Where are you?"

"I'm three blocks away, by the park, hiding in the bushes," she said. "Boss, a guy came. He was going to kill me. He had a knife. I shot him."

"I saw him," Lisbon said. "I'm coming to get you, okay? Are you on foot?"

"Yes," Van Pelt said. "My vehicle wouldn't start. I think he messed with my engine before coming to my door."

"Stay down and stay quiet," Lisbon said, trying to not let Van Pelt tell by her voice that the senior agent was shaking. "I'll be right there."

* * *

When Lisbon found Van Pelt, she found a soaking wet agent with leaves stuck to her and wild eyes. "Get in," Lisbon demanded, making a motion with her hand. Van Pelt jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. "You okay?"

"Cold," Van Pelt said, shuddering at the heat coming from the car. "But okay."

"I'm taking you to CBI," Lisbon said. "You'll be safe there, and we'll talk about…"

"No," Van Pelt said. "I don't want to put anyone in danger. Anyone _else_ in danger," she amended.

"Grace, this is getting out of control." Lisbon shook her head. "What happened?"

"There was a knock at my door," she said. "I looked in the peephole, saw a guy I vaguely recognized. He double dated with me and Craig once. My blood ran cold. When I moved the doorknob, I saw him pull out a knife. So I opened the door, shot him, and then pushed his body over the railing. I tried to get into my car and saw that it wouldn't start. So I ran. And then I tried calling you."

"Dear God," Lisbon said. She shook her head. "You can't stay here, Grace," she said. "He knows."

Van Pelt nodded, tears springing to her eyes. "He knows."

Lisbon nodded, staring ahead of her at the road. Both her and Van Pelt jumped when something moved on the side of the road. Lisbon slammed on her breaks and they breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out to be a deer that simply wanted to cross.

"Boss," Van Pelt said, "I'm sorry I got you into this."

"You didn't get me into anything," she said. "Like everything I've gotten into with Jane, it's happened to me because I chose for it to. I'm a cop. My job is to be in harm's way, find justice, and protect. That's all I'm doing."

"How many times did you rehearse that little speech?" Van Pelt asked, trying to tease.

Lisbon gave a small smile. "Grace, I have a plan. I have no idea if it will work, but if it does, you'll be safe. At least for a long time. But it'll take a lot of convincing of several people."

"Jane?" Van Pelt asked quietly.

"I may need him as leverage against the director," Lisbon said. "But it's more complicated than that. And it could land you in jail for a while."

Van Pelt was silent for a moment, and then she nodded. "Tell me."

**Sorry this chapter was a bit shorter than the others. There will only be one or two more, depending on if I want to break the rest in half or not.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here is the last chapter of Redhead. I enjoyed writing it, it had been in my head for a while, and I'm very glad to be able to amuse certain people with it. Y'all know who you are.**

**And I still don't own anything.**

"You want me to what?"

"Director," Lisbon said. "She's a good agent. She's had a tragedy in her past that she never had the proper counseling for, and that is what got her involved in this anyway. She's never aided Red John in anything that harmed the CBI. Bosco's team getting killed, that was somebody else. She was in the dark about O'Laughlin. She risked her life coming to us because she hates the part of her life that belongs to him."

"She's a Red John accomplice!" Bertram said, slamming his hand down on the table.

Lisbon jumped up. "Shhhhh!" He raised an eyebrow. Lisbon cleared her throat. "Sir." She sat back down. "You are a man who is very concerned with politics and PR. Arresting an agent for manslaughter is one thing. Arresting a member of _my team_ as a Red John accomplice?" She held her raised her hands slightly off the desk, palms up. "So much worse."

"And why did you come to me?" Bertram asked. "You always go running off with a Jane plan without my knowledge."

"Jane…" Lisbon cocked her head slightly. "Jane doesn't know."

Bertram's eyebrows shot up. "Jane doesn't know."

Lisbon shook her head. "I didn't think that would be the best idea."

Bertram looked at her for a long time. Then he sighed. "What exactly…and I mean exactly, do you need me to do?"

Lisbon took in a breath. "Today, you're going to receive an anonymous tip that there is a body at the apartment complex where Van Pelt lives, right outside her place, in the bushes. Take Van Pelt in for questioning yourself, we can't get another team involved, and she's going to confess. Then leave her alone for a few minutes. When you come back, you'll find her dead with slit wrists."

"But really, you will get her out of the building and she'll go into witness protection."

"Yes," Lisbon said. "I feel that she still could help us in finding Red John, and here she'll be safe."

Bertram sighed. "I don't like the conspiracy." He drummed his fingers on the table. "Have you _talked_ to Witness Protection? We don't have Red John in custody, and usually that is reserved for people whose testimony is certain in coming."

Lisbon nodded. "I…I know a few who owe me a favor."

Bertram looked at her strangely again. Then he let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, I'll do it," he said. "But – if this gets out…"

"It won't," Lisbon said firmly.

"You're a good agent, Lisbon," he said. "But you need to pay more attention to your team."

Lisbon blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Van Pelt has been acting oddly all morning," Bertram said. "She looks distracted…guilty even. I noticed that on one walk through the room. You should go and ask her – publicly – if anything is bothering her."

Lisbon got it. "Right." She stood up. "Thank you, sir. Thank you very much."

* * *

Most of it went according to plan. Lisbon asked Van Pelt if she needed to talk about something. "I thought you were ready to be honest with me," she said, "but you're hiding something, I can tell." Van Pelt had looked just as startled as Lisbon had hoped.

Rigsby used the phone that Cho picked up at the store and an Irish accent to call in the body, and Bertram sent another team to investigate. When news of the body was brought in, Bertram showed up and asked to speak to Van Pelt. Jane was too busy being thoroughly startled to notice that Rigsby and Cho weren't great at pretending to be surprised.

Van Pelt's address was listed as the site of the murder. Bertram made a public scene in demanding that she go to interrogation and talk to him. He emerged from the room ten minutes later, angry and fired up. "Well, she confessed," he said angrily.

Lisbon and Cho jumped up to protest, Rigsby right behind them. Jane sat up on his couch and started.

After a few minutes of yelling, Rigsby stormed down to the interrogation room with Bertram right behind him, telling him to stay out of it. It seemed as if the whole CBI building shook with his screams.

They brought her body out on a stretcher, her skin, pale with fear, looked deathly as she played dead, trained in the same technique Jane had used to fake his death in prison years before. Her wrists soaked the sheet and her clothes with the fake blood.

* * *

Somewhere between the interrogation chamber and the front door, two people in uniform approached the workers carrying the stretcher and took over. Van Pelt's body and the two carriers entered a van.

"Okay," Rigsby said. We're clear.

Lisbon pulled the sheet off of Van Pelt's face and she sat up, gasping as she dared to take a normal breath for the first time in nearly ten minutes. "Did we do it?"

"It all happened so fast," Lisbon said, pulling off her blonde wig. "No one had time to think."

"You wouldn't be the first Red John accomplice to kill herself," Rigsby said, looking in the review mirror and offering a smile. Lisbon had told him about Van Pelt that morning – she couldn't have pulled this off without Jane unless Rigsby and Cho were involved. He was handling it, for now; she imagined that he was going to break down sometime later, but that was understandable, given that she'd killed herself in an interrogation chamber.

"Where exactly are we going?" Van Pelt said.

"The home of a U.S. Marshall," Lisbon said. "I've known her for years; she's going to help you."

Van Pelt sighed. "I still don't like having a grand conspiracy all on my account."

"Well, you don't really have a choice anymore," came a voice from the far back of the van. "You've already put so many careers at stake for you."

"Oh, my God," Lisbon said. "Jane…what are you doing here?"

"Oh, come on," Jane said. "It was obvious you were planning something. I didn't know _what_, but you were planning something. None of you are particularly good lairs."

"Jane," Lisbon said. "I'm going to need you to…"

"Remain calm?" he said. "Not freak out?" He let out a laugh. "Please, Lisbon, my emotions are my own." He looked at Van Pelt. "I have to say," he said. "I never pegged you as someone who would help out Red John. You always seemed to have a good, good heart."

"She does," Lisbon said, "that's why…."

Jane waved a hand to dismiss her, looking back at the redhead, who, for all her training, looked terrified. They stared at each other for several seconds. Rigsby glanced in the mirror. Lisbon couldn't think of a thing to say.

After a moment, Jane sighed. "I don't hate you, if that's what you're wondering."

"But she-!" Lisbon protested, before she registered what Jane had said.

Van Pelt looked up. "You don't?"

"Nah," Jane said. "You had nothing to do with my wife and daughter's death, that much I can tell just by looking at you. And your distress at O'Laughlin's death was genuine. My guess, you were roped into Red John sometime after that tragedy that you had in your past. But you have a good heart, I was right about that, and you fell out of his good graces when he discovered that he couldn't totally brainwash you. Am I right?"

Van Pelt swallowed. "You're good."

"And Lisbon," Jane said, shifting his gaze to the woman seated in front of him. "You kept this from me."

"You're a loose cannon," Lisbon said. "You're unpredictable. How was I supposed to know you'd be all forgiving?"

Jane shrugged. "I guess I'm still full of surprises, then," he said, grinning. "Good, wouldn't want this job to get boring, now would we?"

Under an overpass, in traffic, Lisbon, Van Pelt, Jane, and Rigsby hopped out of the van and into another car. Cho jumped from the other car into the van. The exchange took less than fifteen seconds.

* * *

At the Marshall's house, Rigsby and Van Pelt exchanged a tearful, long hug good-bye. "You come back," he whispered. "After we get him, you come back."

"I will," she whispered back.

Rigsby walked to the door, looked back, and exited the house.

Jane walked up to Van Pelt, and, to her surprise, gave her a quick hug. Then he pulled back, looked her in the eye, and said, "your information. It will help us get him. We'll find him, we'll cut him open, and we'll watch every last drop of blood drain out of him while he writhes in agony. Because of what you told Lisbon," he said. "Which I assume she'll be telling me as soon as we get out of here."

Van Pelt smiled. "I appreciate your forgiveness," she said.

Jane opened his mouth to say something else, but then opted out of it. He nodded to Lisbon and left the room.

"Boss," Van Pelt said, choking out the word. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Lisbon smiled, surprised at how wet her own eyes were. "You be safe," she said. "And come back, okay?" Damn, she wasn't used to being this emotional.

Van Pelt nodded, then moved in for a hug. It was rare Lisbon wanted a hug, so she made the most of it, wrapping her arms tightly around the redhead. "You did the right thing," she whispered.

Van Pelt was smiling when they broke apart. "So did you."

"So," Lisbon said, leaving the house on foot with Jane. "You just forgave her, like that?"

"Eh," Jane said. "She was young, like I said. She's just the personality to get caught up in something like that. It almost worked again with Bret Stiles, and that's almost a decade later. But she'd learned by then. I suppose I should have suspected something then, but…" he shrugged. "She's a good girl. She just fell in with the wrong people. And hey, she turned her life around."

"You wouldn't be so quick to forgive if she'd had anything to do with your family's death," Lisbon said.

"Are you trying to make me angry with her?" Jane said. He stopped and turned to face her. "Are you so sure that I was going to go after her with a knife or something that you're trying to provoke me just so you can be right?" He shook his head. "Narcissist."

"I'm not a narcissist!" she protested, jogging to catch up to him when he took off at a fast walk. "I'm not!"

"Okay," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and facing forward. "You know, I'm thankful, actually."

"Yeah?" Lisbon said. "How so?"

"Now we have a very good chance at catching Red John. And we're finally one step ahead of him. And Van Pelt had nothing to do with any of my personal pain. It all worked out, actually."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd say that."

"Of course?" He raised an eyebrow. "Just moments ago you were convinced I was going to feed Van Pelt to a provoked Great White."

"I never said that," she protested. Jane shrugged, grinned, and they kept on walking.


End file.
